In Pictures: Extreme weather adds to woes as India reopens

Labourers under MNREGA use mortar pans to protect themselves against the scorching sun at a worksite on the outskirts of Beawar, Rajasthan. A heatwave sweeping through North and central India this week has mercury hitting 50 degree Celsius in Rajasthan.

People ride motor bikes as hot, dry winds blow in Prayagraj.

A woman waits for customers as she sells matkas, or earthern pots, used to keep water cool during summers in New Delhi. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, water was in short supply for the estimated 100 million people living in India’s urban slums.

Women carry bundles of wood in Delhi. Parts of Delhi recorded their hottest May temperatures in over a decade.

People sit under the shade of a tree on a hot summer day in New Delhi. India has frequently experienced extreme heat in the past.

West Bengal: A man carries a water cooler on his shoulder. Only 7% of Indian households have air conditioning, reported AFP despite rising income.

People wait in queue to collect water from Delhi Jal Board tanker on a hot summer day in New Delhi. The daily wait for the water trucks in the capital’s slums and settlements has become even worse since the pandemic hit the city with social distancing precautions stretching wait times.

A priest takes an afternoon nap on the banks of the Yamuna river in New Delhi. In the sprawling national capital with a population of around 20 million, the demand for water outstrips supply by an estimated 760 million litres per day as reported by AFP.

A migrant workers child drinks water on a hot afternoon while waiting for a transit bus from Dharavi in Mumbai. A sweltering summer and water supply surges, natural to the summer months, have only aggravated the troubles of everyday Indians reeling under lockdown rules.